Prospero's last word?

How many posts have I made about books over the past couple of years? A lot. Will I make any more? Most assuredly. Will I attempt to take a break for at least a little while, and instead share some actual news, or perhaps tell a sordid tale or two? I’ll try.

But I have just a couple more items to share before I put this baby to bed. Remember, the theme here is the charm of books and what they have to offer that e-books never will.

First, let me share a link from Elizabeth’s blog. She’s a fellow book-junkie like me, and I enjoyed this little snippet.

Second, I recall something my sister told me about a library she discovered in Whitstable. I’ll let her tell it:

It was just a travelling library so that messages people put into books travelled around the UK. I think it was called Library of Secrets or something, as they were meant to be things you were ashamed of, or didn't want anyone to know. A few examples:

A couple of funny ones:
I went off the pill and got pregnant on purpose so that my boyfriend would marry me.
I just farted and shat my pants.

Couple of sad ones:
When I worked as a vet nurse at [so and so vet clinic], the vet would abuse the animals.
I never told [so and so] that I loved her/him and will always regret it.

Let me point out here that she almost certainly added a message of her own similar to the second selection in the ‘funny ones’ section. But I don’t know for sure, that’s just a guess.

And finally…because I haven’t been home and back to my precious book collection in many months, I am wholly lacking when it comes to Russian reading material. Okay, so I could go out and buy something simple to read, which I have done with Little Red Riding Hood, but I have a decent collection at home and I’m waiting to replenish my supply over the holidays when I go back. In the meantime, in the photo below, the small book on the right is a translation of ‘Jeeves and the Unbidden Guest’, probably not the most authentic Russian I’ll come across. I wonder how useful it is to use this as a tool to work on my Russian with selections like this:

‘I’m not absolutely certain of my facts, but I rather fancy it’s Shakespeare – or, if not, it’s some equally brainy lad – who says that it’s always just when a chappie is feeling particularly top-hole, and more than usually braced with things in general that Fate sneaks up behind him with a bit of lead piping.’

‘Oh, well, put out rich raiment of sorts, and I’ll be dressing.’

‘Our heather-mixture lounge is in readiness, sir.’

‘Motty, who was sucking the knob of his stick, uncorked himself.’

And in a passage I can most certainly relate to:

‘There was something about this woman that sapped a chappie’s will-power.’

I suppose it’s better than nothing. It will suffice for now.

My current reading selection